Analysis Of Mary Shelly 's ' Winning Frankenstein ' Essay

As Victor continues his studies, he finally feels like he has acquired everything there is to know about the body. He then dangerously seeks the deep dark and underlying secrets to life. Victor wanting to make a difference in the world says, “I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation” (Ch. 3). Vowing to this statement, Victor envisions creating a race with superior beings. He confines himself in his apartment and begins to passionately work on his creation. “Cloistered in scholarly pursuit, Victor goes into hiding in his study and fully loses touch with the primacy of physicality”

"A Hermit is simply a person to whom society has failed to adjust itself." (Will Cuppy). In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley we follow the life of Victor Frankenstein in 18th century Germany. Shelley displays a recurring theme of isolation and how it drives once good people to do terrible things. If civilization does not adjust itself to a creature of any kind they will be forced into isolation and ultimately self destruction.

Victor derives from an exquisite and loving childhood in Geneva with a flourishing thirst for knowledge. He is more than content with the comfort of his family and stability as, "No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence. We felt that they were not the tyrants

Shelley addresses romantic conventions in Victor to convey his loss of identity. Victor is impatient and restless when constructing the creation, so much, that he does not think about it’s future repercussions. One of the great paradoxes that Shelley’s novel depicts is giving the monster more human attributes than to it’s creator [p. 6 - Interpretations]. This is true as the monster seeks an emotional bond, but Victor is terrified of it’s existence. The monster later reveals, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurred at and kicked and trampled on [Shelley, p. 224].” Victor’s lack of compassion is rooted from the inability to cope with his reality. He distances himself from others and is induced with fainting spells [Shelley, p. 59]. From this, the nameless creature exemplifies Victor’s attempt to abandon his creation to escape his responsibilities. His creation is described as, ‘wretched devil’ and ‘abhorred monster,’ eliciting that the unobtainable, pitied identity [Shelley, p. 102]. The act of not naming the creature reveals Victor as hateful, and unnaturally disconnected to his own created victim.

Victor begins to possess an unnatural drive in his quest for knowledge where he begins intense study and experimentation, “These thoughts supported my spirits, while I pursued my undertaking with unremitting ardour. My cheek had grown pale from study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement” eventually isolating himself from his friends and family. As the seasons passed Victor’s obsession with his studies continued to grow, “And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time” highlighting how his ambition is a fatal flaw, neglecting the outside world and his loved ones. Victor’s ambition to research and attempt to create life drains him of health and sensibility, “Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree” which is ironic to the goal he wishes to achieve. Shelly’s use of irony illuminates how Victor’s obsessive ambition has become a fatal flaw.

Victor Frankenstein is unquestionably the protagonist of Mary Shelley's novel whose title features his last name, Frankenstein. Yet whether or not Victor is truly a tragic hero is open for debate. Some have suggested that the Creature is more convincing as a tragic figure because of the insights about himself and his actions that he expresses to Captain Walton after Victor's death. Nevertheless it is the growth of Victor as a hero that we shall trace in the course of the novel's plot, a story narrated by Captain Walton based on his interview with Victor on board ship as they head toward the North Pole.

Elizabeth was not Victors’ true sister but he loved her very dearly, making sure to always write her when ever he had the chance. Yet, when Victor left something strange came over him. Already being interested in subjects such as natural philosophy and chemistry, he fall upon the

Victor’s arrogance and obsession for creating life leads him to disregard his beliefs and professor’s opinion to create something no man has seen before. As a child, Victor studied

Nwaneka Chinedu Ms. Hotalen Honors English III p 9/10 February 18, 2016 citation: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein: Unabridged and Unadapted from the Original Text, and with Thirteen Related Readings. Lodi, NJ: Everbind Anthologies, 2002. Print.

Aboard a large ship on the way to the North Pole, Dr. Robert Walton writes a series of letters to his his sister Margaret Saville. He writes about his adventures in the North and the uncertainty of his return. He meets a crazed man (who is later revealed to be Victor Frankenstein) and nurses him back to health upon meeting his request to continue his travels north. Victor opens up to Walton and tells his tales of the monster, which Walton believes, and they become closer to each other. The story then switches to Victor’s perspective, who was born in Geneva to parents Caroline and Alphonse. He grew up with a beautiful adopted sister named Elizabeth that his parents decided to take underneath their wings. Before leaving for college, Elizabeth contracts scarlet fever and upon nursing her back to health, Caroline contracts it and dies.

“I have a dream!”, everyone has their own dream in their lives. Sometimes it can be a motivation, but sometimes the ambitions are too strong to control that may result negative consequences. Text one, Macbeth and text two, Frankenstein, both deal with the main idea of human’s ambitions. Macbeth murdered the king Duncan for being powerful and Victor Frankenstein created a monster as his scientific achievement, but result the killing of his own family members. Both of characters have ambitions for power and achievement during their lives, but their ambitions lead to death and result in murderous to get to character’s satisfaction.

Victor grew up in a very wealthy family, he got everything he wanted and never really had to work for it. Hid parents give him all the attention a boy would want, they even gave him a gift on the form of a sister, Elizabeth. Everyone got along in the house and reading was a large part of life, Victor became interested in the writings of Cornelius Agrippa who focused mainly on the fantastic rather than reality. When Victor went to his father about what he'd been reading, instead of

Driven by his mother’s own death, Victor looked to science for a way to combat death and illness for his own personal benefit and glory. By giving his creation life, he manages to attain the knowledge and status similar to that of God. The creation of this monster, like Prometheus’ stealing of fire, leads to Victor’s punishment. His life becomes one of loneliness and isolation, brought upon him by the creation of his creature and his attempt to be God. His carelessness and inability to fully understand the complications with his experiment contributed to his downfall and ultimately leads to a diversion in this comparison.

Victor is a person who was always interested in learning more and discovering new things and this is what lead him to go to the university of Ingolstadt. When speaking of his childhood he describes his father as someone who “filled public situations with honour and reputation” and Robert meets him while he is on his voyage.

Before Victor had achieved reanimating an object his plans and goals had been recognition and fame with his creation by his side, but now his goal is to get away from his creation. “My heart palpitated in the sickness of fear; and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me.” (Shelly p.30) By running away he changes his initial goal of fame and recognition to now not wanting to be associated with his creation, out of this experience Victor also learns about commitment and responsibility.